Fedor Emelianenko’s recently-announced deal with Strikeforce is an exclusive contract for three fights over one year, according to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, who discussed the signing of Emelianenko and other Strikeforce topics yesterday on TapouT Radio and the Carmichael Dave Show.
“Although the deal with Strikeforce is an exclusive one, it’s far from a contract signed in blood as Fedor is currently contractually obligated to fight for Strikeforce for just one year,” said Coker. “Basically it’s three fights over the next year, and we’ll start in the Fall some time…The very first fight that Fedor fights will be on Showtime, and then the roll-out of television from there forward hasn’t been determined 100%, but his first fight will be on Showtime.”
According to Coker, Strikeforce is planning on having Emelianenko fight Brett Rogers, Fabricio Werdum, and champion Alistair Overeem, though Fedor is unlikely to immediately fight for the title and will instead build up to a fight with Overeem.
“[Fedor] and Alistair Overeem should be an amazing fight, and people that haven’t seen Alistair, you know, he’s an amazing fighter,” said Coker. “I think we should do a couple of fights and build that one up, and then let their champion fight our champion, and let’s see what happens. We’re hoping that Alistair will be ready to fight in the Fall, and we can put him on one of the cards with Fedor, and not fight against each other but fight against someone else, and let’s build that fight up.”
During the appearances, Coker also announced a “alliance” between Strikeforce and FEG, the Japan-based parent company of DREAM and K-1, that will see fighters from both promotions compete at future events.
Coker also confirmed that Jake Shields will fight for the interim Strikeforce middleweight title at an October event against an opponent to-be-announced with 185-pound title-holder Cung Le still out of action while pursuing an acting career. The October event could also host Emelianenko’s Strikeforce debut.
A press conference is being planned for Thursday to announce details on Fedor’s debut, including a date and opponent, as well as the official announcement of an alliance with FEG and other developments.
Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest Strikeforce news and Strikeforce rumors.
[HT: Bloody Elbow]
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I know ether and I resolved to call him the last tuna from now on, but I think I’m going to unilaterally change it.
I don’t care any more about “The Next Emper-Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Ha, equally as funny.
LOL!
has to earn a title shot, wtf?
Yes, Fedor, just like everyone else in MMA, has to EARN a title shot in the caged environment of Strikeforce, and stop relying on 5 year old Japanese shoot fighting performances in a pro wrestling ring to get him thru life.
Is that so unrealistic and unbelievable?
I have to also believe this is partly due to Overeem having a lingering hand injury, the contract is only a year long so they need to get as much in as possible. If Overeem is shelved for longer he won’t be able to train and you need a full camp against Fedor. Regardless of whether or not he’s as good as he once was.
Are they going to restrict his out of the cage activities to ensure he makes 3 fights in a year?
Based on his hand injuries, they should restrict his in-cage activities to spanking the ring girls.
lol!
You never know… He could hurt a hand doing that as well. Of course, I wouldn’t make fun of him for that.
Who am I kidding. Of course I would.
Bottom line on Fauxdor is there is no amount of money that you can’t outspend (ask Mayweather) and Lesnar will continue to improve and he(F) will have to sign with Zuffa within the next 2 years.The sport is bigger than one man.
This is almost laughable.
While I applaud and respect Coker’s position to NOT grant Fedor and immediate title shot upon entering his promotion, something I wish the UFC would have done in their negotiations, it actually made me laugh out loud when I consider what Zuffa offered Fedor.
To walk away from an immediate title shot, a cut of PPV paper, and a reported 5 extra large per fight with the most powerful MMA org on the planet, and sign on for what Stikeforce, a regional promotion, is offering clearly illustrates the intelligence, or lack thereof, exhibited by both Fedor and his manager.
And I say this with no intended disrespect to Scott Coker or Strikeforce.
I wish them well with this Fedor thing, and dealing with his a$$-puppet manager Vadim Finkledouchestein, and the 33 other guys in their travelling Russian roadshow…
This was not the best way to secure the future of Fedoria now was it?? :D
Remember when Gonzaga CroCop’ed Mirko?
How we were all “WTF?!”
And how it started Mirko’s slow spiral MMA decline?
I envision something similiar happening in Strikeforce in a bout with a relative newcomer and/or unknown like Brett Rogers…
“[Fedor] and Alistair Overeem should be an amazing fight, and people that haven’t seen Alistair, you know, he’s an amazing fighter,” said Coker.-LMFAO!!!!!Maybe if you’re talking about the Bars in Amsterdam……
haha good stuff, i pitty the foo who this Overeem is “top level competition”. :)
“thinks:, not “this”, correcting what i wrote
In all fairness to Strikeforce, and Scott Coker, Alistair Overeem is an amazing fighter, and their top HW.
It isn’t their fault that they aren’t the UFC, they’ve never tried to be. They are a regional promotion working within the margins to turn a profit, be a viable and ongoing part of the sport, and provide their fans with the best talent available to them.
Fedor waved off the UFC because he knew he wouldn’t be “Fedor” for long once he stepped in with the promotion’s best HWs. His new role would be, “that fugly fat Russian guy that Lesnar beat so badly they had to help him out of the Octagon and back to the dressing room”.
Or Faux-dor, the Last Imperial Tuna or something to that effect.
And really, who in M-1 Global wants their meal ticket punched that way?
So lets maybe cut Coker and Strikeforce some slack, and extend them some courtesy and respect. Fedor was looking for easy fights against lower-level competition, and they are going to try and do the best they can with what they have, and whoever they can get moving forward…
When Fedor looks at Rogers, Werdum and Overeem. He’s thinkin well Rogers big guy good power and alot of hype …but I’ll just submit him. Werdum good BJJ guy I’ll just Ground and Pound him smartly like what I did with Nog or KO him. Overeem well when you watch the Overeem vs Kharitonov fight you see Fedor is going to run over Overeem.
i pity the foo
war Feign-dor!!!
So Cung Le’s reason of not defending his belt has been because of his acting career?! How lame. I think Cung Le is great but c’mon! You have some obligations to defend that title than to star in some cheesy fighter movie.
As to the matter of Cung Le, I’ll say that in terms of marital arts he is an acknowledged master of san shou, and entitled as such to all the respect he receives.
In terms of mixed martial arts, Cung le is a one-dimensional fighter who only avoided losing to Frank Shamrock because Shamrock simply refused to take Le down and submit him, and exchanged strikes with a world-reknowned striker, and not surprisingly came out second best.
Thus Strikeforce is saddled with a one dimensional MW champion who has refused to defend his title so he can work on straight-to-DVD chop scoky flicks.
Not even the signing of Fedor can detract from that sad piece of business…
LMAO, I love the last line. I agree about the Shamrock fight, Shamrock should of went for takedowns, but he said he was going to stand up with him. I think Le could be a decent MMA fighter, in time but if your already a champ, you should defend it over “Never Back Down II – Cung’s Revenge” (Haha, I tried!)
In Le’s defense, I think that at least one of his movies will actually make it to theaters, either Pandorum or Tekken.
its seems like they think their boi will never loss a fight? just becuase he is not fighting UFC guys,doesn’t mean he won’t loose!
AA (was owning him… till he f-ed up), Timmy :), Hong Man Choi 352 pounds 2-2 :), Matt Linland, Mark Hunt 250 pounds 5-6 This is his last 5 fights!!!
is this guy really the best heavy wieght fighter? Has he fought top fighters?
it looks really empressive when he beats a super heavy wieght, But those guys are not top compitition!!!!! IMO
AA is his strongest fight, he was getting owned, and now he ducked the UFC
WHAT A MU PHUCKING JOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
I like how they said they are going to have Fedor and Overeem fight other people to build up to their showdown…that doesn’t give me a lot of confidence that they will be fighting quality opponents when you are assuming/guaranteeing they will win. What if one of them looses? Anything can happen in MMA. You’ve got to strike while the iron is hot.
As a fan of both Strikeforce and Dream , I like the deal . There are gonna be some good cards coming up and can’t wait . The Aug 15th show is the start of bigger things for Strikeforce …. they get some good young talent to use in Gegard Mousasi and Eddie Alvarez
I like the ufc , they put the best fighters in their shows for the most part . But now strikeforce is stepping it up a bit in their own right and have a few guys that could challenge a few of the UFC champions . So what ? Wonder how Dana will sound now when asked about Strikeforce . Will he be still praising Scot Coker as a good guy ? If he does slang Coker you know he is just doing it for the sake of competition .
Lets support the deal guys …. isnt this the land of opportunity ??? Scot Coker has been around a long time , before the UFC started , so who else to get a little piece of the pie . Its not like he jumped into the business like these other guys . So buy a sh!tty t-shirt for $20 and if they come to your hood for a show check it out . I’d rather see Strikeforce as the #2 mma org rather than some dip Sh1t who puts a real black mark on the sport .
Assuming that Strikeforce doesn’t go the way of BoDog and Affliction, and assuming that Scott Coker doesn’t get aggravated to death by Vadim Finkledouchestein and the rest of Fedor’s parasitic posse with this co-promotion scam, I’m fine with supporting Strikeforce. If I lived in Northern California I would hit their shows as often as my work schedule allowed, and would order their PPVs if they ever go that route.
I’ve also carried Showtime on my cable system the last few years just for Strikeforce.
My sole legitmate opposotion to the deal is that I don’t want to see Strikeforce get M-1 Global’ed the way everyone else seems to do when they get into bed with Fedor’s promotion.
A lesser, semi-legitimate beef, is with Fedor, allegedly the best in the world, so obviously avoiding top-flight UFC competition in favor of easier co-promoted fights, but that shouldnt reflect on Strikeforce, but rather Fedor himself.
And although I had to put a moratorium on MMA t-shirt buying because one closet full of MMA t-shirts is enough for any man, I would gladly spring for a Strikeforce rashguard and/or boardshorts…
;)
I’m fine with supporting Strikeforce, i just hope that they don’t go to the toilet and that this decision doesn’t backfire on them, Strikeforce has a lot of legit talent and they have their own good thing going for them, but i just hope that when the Fedorians invade, they don’t completely mess things up for Strikeforce in the long run…..
…just for the record, jcohl came up with “Fedorians”.
I came up with “Fedoria”
Thanks for the mention, MK4 ;)
Just as an FYI, I came up with the term “Fedorian” because it seemed a lot more polite than “Fedor nut-hugger” or “Fedor Jock-sniffer”, although all are certainly applicable in the case of his supporters…
haha yeah i know, ‘Fedorians” is more gentle for the residents of Fedoria, it’s not as offensive :)
I wore a Fedoria tonight when I went to the bar.
I looked like a douche because of it.
Let’s hope Strikeforce doesn’t look just as douchey for wearing their Fedoria as well.
i say he’ll end up with the title anyway. then maybe ruling over there then by the time he comes to his sences to come to UFC randy couture will be retired.
The only thing the UFC has to worry about in the short term is having some of their talent sign with Strikeforce just to get it on with Fedor . And that is a possibility ………
Haha i didn’t even stop to think how funny this picture looks. strikeforce and M1 Global’Fedor Emelianenko The Last Emperor”, haha that’s some funny $hit, maybe the Fedorians will take this picture and make it a statue out of it for the Fedorians to worship on Planet Fedoria, haha
“Although Strikeforce’s heavyweight talent pool isn’t as deep as the UFC’s, they will have the ability to reach out to other promotions and acquire additional heavyweight talent, something the UFC refused to do.”- Tim Ngo
This is an interesting point. Neat thing is that Brock was brought in, fights a can, then Loses, then 3 fights later is the guy some ppl say cannot be beat and the UFC Champ. This shows that getting the best in the UFC is just a rookie signing away; and that the HW talent pool is not that deep right now. So theoretically, strikeforce is just 2 rookie signings and an aquisition from being as deep or much deeper than the UFC. It’ll be an interesting year seeing the fighters they find if fedor starts growing their popularity and they decide to renew.
A “rookie acquisition” name to watch is Shane Del Rosario…
thanks for the heads up, I’ve not seen any of his fights but I’ll look him up.
I’ve read some comments here and there and well it is what it is right? Well look at it this way for literally the last week (+) we have been speaking about the Great Fedor.. UFC (Dana) offered Fedor a butt load of money that is the way it is, if you say it was based mostly PPV cut and such or it was guaranteed I don’t care, he got offered sooo much money it is dumb crazy good..
Now Scott Coker did what he has seen as best for his company, and we can talk about that to death, but here is somethings that I’ve been thinking about while working my long ass day..
People think that a “war” between the UFC and StrikeForce is coming because Scott Coker signed the “#1″ HW in the world, and I would like to disagree with that.. Dana is notorious for taking down competitors (IFL, PRIDE, Affliction etc) yet has always left StrikeForce alone and they are honestly friends And no signing of a single fighter will make Dana decide to take StrikeForce out, the thing that is going to make Dana set aside his friendship and take on StrikeForce head on is the alliance with FEG…… A DREAM/StrikeForce (perhaps throw thatM~1 thing in there too) alliance will be only seen by Dana White as a full force attack on ZUFFA, but I actually believe that the head general in charge will be Lorenzo Fertitta in this war and thats the thing that is flat ass scary… I will attempt to keep this short but this entire week leading up to some event that has two of the possible FOTY on it we have been talking about StrikeForce and Fedor/M~1Global not even paying attention to UFC 101 headlined by Penn v Florian and second by Anderson Silva v Forrest Griffin, in the business world this shit doesn’t go un noticed and the Brothers Fertitta are noticing and will make a point to prove that the UFC in #1 and that is a scary thought imo..
Scott Coker is having a pressor on Thursday, two days before UFC 101 and 9 days before Gina v Cyborg August is quickly becoming the month of StrikeForce when was the last time that another org has recieved this much attention (proper or otherwise) this close to a huge upcoming UFC event? ZUFFA is reconizing this and I assure you that something is in the works to counter the date that is given for the debut of Fedor.. Is StrikeForce and UFC direct competitors, um ya but this is the difference of lets say the wholesale v retail type thing imo…. There is no PPV for StrikeForce but if ZUFFA doesn’t pay attention to the growth of StrikeForce and the possible works with FEG I believe that the UFC can become overwhelmed. When your two closest competitors team up that is nothing more than a direct act of war, believe me on that, business will be handled, this is going to be exciting times in MMA, and I have to thank one Josh Barnett, F~Finkledinkle and I don’t mind seeing great MMA and thats that for now I guess!
O and UFC 101 is on Saturday August 8th just for those that have forgot
*not the best write up but hey I tried to explain myself*
I agree that the teaming up with FEG thing is a much bigger deal to the UFC than signing Fedor. I too expect to see counter programing. I just hope that the counter programming isn’t at the expense of one of the other, already scheduled, cards.
Not to take issue with anything fr702 has posted here, but I just see this slightly differently, and admittedly maybe not as clearly.
Zuffa, and the UFC, are for all intents and purposes synonymous with MMA in North America. This has worked out in less than a decade to cause the approximate street value of the UFC to well exceed a billion dollars, and they stand to earn a quarter of a billion dollars this year alone, maybe more.
Even if DREAM, Strikeforce, M-1 Global, Bellator, NAGA Reality Fighting, the defunct Palace Fighting Championships, and every other smalltime MMA outfit working Indian reservations, riverboat casinos, and backwater town sportatoriums agreed to work together, they couldn’t match the brand visibility and market penetration that the UFC has achieved.
Nor could they make up ground on the huge lead the UFC has in terms of intrinsic necessity to the sport, mainstream acceptance and merchandising.
Just ask any of a half-dozen failed MMA promoters what they think if what I’m saying seems off-base.
IMO, the UFC has become the NFL of the sport. Powerful, organized, well-funded, well-received, strongly led, white-hot and growing hotter with each passing event they stage AND they are chockful of stars in every weight class.
The UFC is also at a point wherein the bigger they get the bigger they CAN get, if you follow, and have now started reaching out into the UK, Mexico, and apparently the Middle East if reports of Dana White in Abu Dhabi are accurate.
TO carry thru with the football analogy, the sport has seen rival organizations to the NFL, such as the old American Football League [AFL], which got absorbed/merged by the larger league, as did PRIDE with the UFC, the USFL, which ultimately collasped under its own weight and lack of stable foundation, much like the IFL did, and then there is Strikeforce, which most likely correlates to either the Canadian Football League, and/or the now-defunct Arena Football League.
The WEC would be like NFL Europe, protected by the parent league but clearly an inferior brand.
Like the CFL and Arena ball, Strikeforce has a small but loyal following, and tries its level best to produce a quality product for its fanbase thru a combination of determined leadership, reasonablity, and making do with what falls from the top of the food chain. The CFL and Arena ball does what it can to garner new fans and maintain interest levels, but they do it in such a way to not antagonize the NFL, which is football’s premiere organization.
This is also how Strikeforce has survived in the shadow of the UFC when so many other MMA orgs have fallen by the wayside.
I have heard people who are pro wrestling fans tell me that the UFC is the WWE of MMA, and Dana White is MMA’s Vince McMahon. While some superficial comparisons are likely and in some cases accurate, I think the true “role” of the UFC within MMA is far more like the NFL’s role in the sport of American-style football, with White cast as a Pete Rozelle/Al Davis type.
As far as what the future holds as it relates to possibly dueling MMA promotions, let me ask this question:
When was the last time any rival football organization gained any sort of traction or success whatsoever against the NFL?
I’ll tell you when.
The NEXT time a rival to the NFL approaches anything remotely resembling sustained success will be the FIRST time, and so it will go in the UFC if the current trends and conditions remain similiar…
I watch MMA for the Fights and if any organization has guys like : Joachim Hansen, Shinya Aoki, Gegard Mousasi, Ronaldo Souza, Marius Zaromskis, Norifumi Yamamoto, Hayato Sakurai, Murilo Rua, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Joe Warren, Jason Miller, Paulo Filho, Melvin Manhoef, Frank Shamrock, Nick Diaz, Cung Lee, Gilbert Melendez, Benji Radach, Scott Smith, Brett Rogers, Fedor Emelianenko, Robbie Lawler, Jake Shields, Kevin Randleman, Renato Sobral, Alistar Overeem, Fabricio Werdum, Josh Thomson, Gina Carano, Cristiane Santos, Joey Villasenor I’ll be watching it. The UFC just cann’t turn a blind eye to this much talent under a parentership.. Plus Dream and Strikeforce has no problems with bring in guys from other organization to add to this list.
I do like the NFL analogy, but I must say that I think MMA is slightly different, in that it is a truly world sport in comparison to American Football. Like true world sports like football (soccer to you guys) the sport slightly differs in different countries. The way shows are done in Japan is very different, to cater for their taste. I can imagine if the UFC did similar show’s people (casual fans) in America would just laugh at the entrances and think it is too similar to Pro Wrestling. I am not sure how Strikeforce will change if at all with the FEG fighters?
I really really hope that they succeed as I think we as fans need a few different organisations. If not, then we need a huge council of some sort to overlook all fighters and make the fights and maybe have cities bid to host the events. Obviously most would still be in Las Vegas, but if by then Madison Square Garden would host and some shows in the UK, Germany and the 7 star hotel in Dubai.
My only problem with having just the UFC as some people want, is that they would have all the power and I am not sure they will always put on the best show and the fighters may not always be treated right. Also, how many shows would the UFC have to put on every month to be able to keep the fighters fighting often enough? Or would we only see GSP and Anderson Silva once a year?
Sorry if that was a bit off topic.
Just to clarify, I’m not saying I want to see the UFC as the sole MMA promoter in North America, to the contrary, I would like to see most MMA promotions in North America succeed on one level or another, save for anything having to do with M-1 Global, Strikeforce currently notwithstanding.
It just seems to me that the UFC is fine going it alone, creating their own stars, and saturating the North American marketplace solely with their brand, although I realize there is a difference between team sports and combat sports, as well as a more global dispersion of MMA than American-style football, as YorkYid pointed out.
And why wouldn’t they be fine eschewing co-promotion?
The Zuffa/UFC business model has worked so far, and has turned MMA into N America’s fastest growing and hottest sporting enterprise, and is owned and operated by one man and his partners.
@ ufcmanz-
I don’t think the UFC is turning a blind eye towards the Strikeforce Alliance, I think they just feel as if they can poach whoever they want, whenever they want, and whoever doesn’t sign with them by default becomes not worthy of being in the promotion in the first place, and Dana can boast about the UFC only “signing the best” and waving off the rest.
Is that flawed logic?
Absolutely.
But its worked to date, and to the tune of over a billion dollars in value in less than a decade. And in a sh!t-awful economy, no less.
Also consider that many of the fighters you named, while talented, either tried and failed in the UFC or WEC, received a lookover from the UFC when the IFL collapsed and were passed over, or are simply unsignable, such as Fedor.
As for Gina Carano, and what Dana once called “chick fighting” on a satelite radio interview, I think the only UFC-themed chick fight you’re going to see is outside a Vegas strip club when a couple of pole dancers decide to throw down over who gets to give Rampage a lapdance…
;)
interesting post fr702; I enjoyed it.
well I found this on Twitter enjoy gents
graciemag: Ronaldo Jacare signed with Strikeforce and will debut in the same day of Fedor
so thats awesome and interesting and I will leave it at that
That’s pretty awesome was keeping my fingers crossed hoping this would happen when the Dream/Strikeforce deal was announced. For those that may be in the dark Ronaldo is arguably one of the best ground fighters in the world. He’s two time open weight world Jui-Jitsu Champion and an ADCC champion and runner-up losing to Roger Gracie who out weighed him by over 20 lbs. Can’t wait to see him fight and hopefully they announce a good opponent Thursday.
Would comment on The Last Tuna situation but guys like dbiz, jcohl, Justin, carls, etherbunny and mk4 etc. seem to have this topic pretty well covered. Thanks for saving me the time guys :D. Neither do I enjoy beating a dog, particulary a dead one. Unless another Fedorian comes out the woodwork then I’ll try to be the first to crush his tainted delusions.
jacare vs shields perhaps for the strikeforce middleweight strap ? Talk about a clash of styles if Cung Le decides to come back …. the kicker vs the ground specialist . I have lost faith in Cung after not competing for so long . I Figured he would be all gung ho to defend the belt but …. sh1tty deal .
And the worse thing a/b it is he can’t even act!!! I was watching a boot-leg of that fighting b/s movie he’s in & he sucks!!! BAD- He sounds like he has mashed potatoes & marbles in his mouth…He CAN kick; He CAN NOT act…He shows no love for the sport.
i have changed my opinion about Fedor!!!!! i think he plans on getting used to fighting in a cage, then come go to the UFC and retire with their belt to get back at Dana for smack talking
Windmiller – Fedor’s skillset is already cage-friendly.
SAMBO is at least half grappling art, maybe more, and its the strikers like Mirko that need the pro wrestling ring a lot more than a cage in order to be successful.
I’m sure Fedor will need a fight or 2 to develop a sense of cage command, and how best to take advantage of the caged environment in terms of positioning, and where and when to go for a submission.
As for Fedor fighting in the UFC, we’ve talked this thing to death, and its bever happening.
Fedor won’t sign a contract that doesn’t allow for M-1 Global to co-promote events, ostensibly because he reportedly owns an as-of-yet undetermined percentage of the promotion.
The UFC will NEVER sign a contract that cuts into their cash on that level, not to mention there are assorted peripheral issues such as Nevada gaming licenses, the Fertitas, and so on.
And its not smack talking when its the truth.
Fedor is for all intents and purposes a paper champion, who has built his reputation on past deeds against so-so opposition, and walked away from a boatload of money and the best HW talent in the world to fight for less money and lower-level opposition.
No part of this is in dispute, they are facts that have been proven over and over again by myself and probably a half dozen or more other equally or better informed posters than myself…
thats cool i respect your opinion! and i pretty much agree, i was just trying to put a positive “hook” on things!
“bever” say “bever”!
“bever say bever”
Funny sh!t, windmiller…
;)
FYI sport SAMBO is 100% grappling, combat SAMBO is about 75% grappling and the rest striking…